IN: State agriculture department developing testing for every seed

The state agriculture department has been taking necessary steps to come up with full-fledged seed testing and certification for all vegetable seeds, officials said in Madurai on Friday.They were speaking during the sidelines of a state-level refresher training on seed inspection procedures organised by the department of seed certification and organic certification held at Agricultural College and Research Institute in Madurai.

Officials said that when it came to vegetable seeds, only hybrid variety seeds were largely being taken for testing and certification, while the regular varieties directly -- without testing -- were made available in the wholesale markets. Seed testing officer (STO) Thanjavur district, D Siva Veerapandian, who participated in the event, said that seed testing and certification played a major role in improving the quality of vegetables in the state.

“As a result, the TN government is taking all steps to ensure that the testing and certification is done for all vegetable seeds,” he said.